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Ontario Dive Sites - Misc.

I'm new to diving and live in Ottawa. I was wondering have you ever done any diving in the Ottawa River? I saw in Chris Kohl's (spelling?) book about Ontario dive sites a mention of diving sites in the river. Do you know anything about these?
Unfortunately, with the recent, sad accident of "ladyduck" maybe there will be a new site to visit. I don't know what the whole story is on that one. Very sad though - I feel even more upset when children die.

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The river is at best very murky, with very low viz, and typically with a strong current near Ottawa.

I personnally have only done a couple of dives in the river-- both associated with the u/w archeology work I've done with SOS Ottawa. One at Westboro beach, and one up in Arnprior at Red Pine Bay. I do recommend the wreck up in Arnprior, an easy dive, approximately 30-40ft (if I recall correctly) - accessible from shore.

The sites that Chris mentions in his book "The Great Lakes Diving Guide" (pub 2001) are not frequently visited by many divers that I know -- mainly because the viz is so poor.

The LadyDuck is a tragedy -- just last year I was on the other boat LadyDive doing the tour so I know exactly where she went down.

If you haven't forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others? - Dolores Huerta

I'm new to diving and live in Ottawa. I was wondering have you ever done any diving in the Ottawa River? I saw in Chris Kohl's (spelling?) book about Ontario dive sites a mention of diving sites in the river. Do you know anything about these?
Unfortunately, with the recent, sad accident of "ladyduck" maybe there will be a new site to visit. I don't know what the whole story is on that one. Very sad though - I feel even more upset when children die.

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hey barb, if you'd like to go diving some day to one of the local shore dives (rothesay, prescott docks) just send me a private message.

Have you been to Lock 21 yet ? it's great, it's the best shore dive I've been to yet, but I've only been diving for 2 months

Hi, just a little info on the Northwind. It is an excellent dive and the nicest way to see it is on the Dawn Light out of Toby. Typically they leave late on a Thursday night and will be back at Toby early afternoon Sunday. You dive the Northwind Friday and early Saturday then do a couple of shallow wrecks in the area.
On the way back Sunday he will stop and do the Arabia and the Forest City weather permitting.This works out to be a great weekend of diving.

The Northwind and the last two mentioned are a bit deep so he will only take tech divers or very experienced Rec divers with redundant air.

There are no charter boats to my knowledge in the North Channel but some local divers out of Sudbury etc. that have their own boats.

There is a nice charter boat out of Parry Sound which has a few nice wrecks dives, although I have not dove them they looked worth doing.

Quick note on the Waome, and most Muskoka dives for that matter... Dive early in the year, if possible. Especially for the Waome, the algae growth in the water destroys the vis by late June.... Bala Falls is not quite as bad...

i'm going up to my gf's cottage (which is right on stoney lake w/a boat and private dock) in mid-late july, and I just had a few questions before i endeavor into the water.

what's the clarity of the water in the summer? i heard some other people talking about algae growth contamination.... it'd be a shame if that occurred in excess here, too. Furthermore, what kinda temp can I expect in late july? i have a 3-mil shorty.... with legs and hood at my disposal - will this suffice? my gf gets really cold under water; in fact, she even had to double-up the shorty's in mexico if you can believe that...

also... being a freshly-certified OW diver, how will i establish a sufficient location depth-wise? i thought of a depthfinder, but i don't have one, myself, and i can't really rely on anybody up there to have one, either.

lastly, is there anything particularly dangerous (or neat, for that matter) that i should watch out for?

Furthermore, what kinda temp can I expect in late july? i have a 3-mil shorty.... with legs and hood at my disposal - will this suffice? my gf gets really cold under water; in fact, she even had to double-up the shorty's in mexico if you can believe that...

also... being a freshly-certified OW diver, how will i establish a sufficient location depth-wise? i thought of a depthfinder, but i don't have one, myself, and i can't really rely on anybody up there to have one, either.

lastly, is there anything particularly dangerous (or neat, for that matter) that i should watch out for?

cheers

-johnny

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My first reaction is You're diving beyond your training. Where did you certify (where did you do your OW dives)? If you are not familiar with cold water diving (ie you did your certifying and other dives in Mexico), you need at least a couple of supervised cold water dives before you head off. Adding the hood, gloves, extra lead needed up here is a whole new game. Lot's of people chill easily and I know a guy who dive a 6.5mm full suit in Mexico. Water at 85F is still 11 degrees colder than your body temp (at 85F you're probably dead) and water cools much more effectively than air.

A quick search turned up this STONY/STONEY LAKE Three interconnected lakes (Upper Stoney Lake to the northeast, Stony Lake in the centre, and Clear Lake to the southwest) form the eastern end of the Kawartha lakes region. All three lakes are typical of the northerly Kawartha lakes, being generally deeper, colder, and relatively more influenced by the Canadian Shield than lakes to the south. So, I expect the answer to your temp question is COLD, certainly way below shorty diving more most. Probably a full 6 to 7mm, hood, heavy gloves, and probably the jacket too.

On finding the depth, lacking a depth/fishfinder (portable units are not all that expensive, get em at Canadian Tire). There's a small on with a wireless transmitter made for fishermen. Tie the transmitter in the end of a fishing line and cast (as far as you can?), then read the depth on a wrist worn screen. If you want the 'econo' method, go back to the days of sailing ships. take a light line, tie knots every 10 feet (or for the nautically inclined, every fathom). If you want to be fancy you can tie one knot at 10 feet, 2 at 20, 3 at 30, etc. I mark the anchor line on my boat every 25 feet using small coloured ribbon. Start with a colour and one ribbon tied through and around at 25 feet, 2 ribbons at 50, 3 at 75, 4 at 100, then change colours and 1 at 125, 2 at 150 and so on (I carry 300 feet of rope). This allows me to quickly lay out the correct amount of rode for the depth I'm in (FYI, 6 feet of rode for every foot of water). The 30 feet of chain between the anchor and the rope isn't counted as it covers the height from the deck to the water's surface).

thanks for the reply; your message provided alot more info than I need!! as per the temp. and experience, yes, this is my/our first freshwater/coldwater dive.

You provided lots of info regarding both depth and temp, but I guess now that we've established that we probably shouldn't be diving by ourselves, it's time to ask the question - who's in the area what wants to dive with us? we'll be up in kawarthas late july (20th-30th), and would greatly appreciate any experienced diving partners willing to spend an afternoon diving with some freshwater novices.

In my world (yes the sky here is blue) there's no such thing as too much information, in my experience it's lack of info that kills. I'd offer to dive with you, but that's a long way from where I hang around. You might be able to find someone local to your current location to introduce you to cold water diving. Most people (me included) would rather do so in a location they're familiar with.
Hopefully your search will turn up suitable buddy(s). You could approach a local LDS and inquire about a cold water checkout dive. I certainly know the stores local to me can/would accomodate.